Book Reading Events

Click here for previous session       (To feel secure against the Plan of Allah contradicts Tauhid) Allah the Most Exalted said: "Did they then feel secure against the Plan of Allah? None feels secure from the Plan of Allah except the...

Click here for previous session     Given non­conformity in understanding, one comes to grasp the survival­based need of the early church to define a belief system, whether true or not. And this is exactly what was done in 451 CE at the Council of Chalcedon, which declared the dogmatic definition that has dominated Christology ever since: “One and the same Christ, Son, Lord, only­begotten, known in two natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation.” 102 Anyone who embraces the evidence of this chapter recognizes the above quote as a statement, but not a truth. Even if the church fathers conceived the nature of Jesus to be “without confusion,” the same cannot be...

Click here for previous session       (Put your Trust in Allah) Allah the Almighty said: "Put your trust in Allah if you are believers indeed." (5:23) He the Most Exalted said: "The believers are only those who, when Allah is mentioned, feel...

Click here for previous session     The above quotes suggest one of two possible scenarios. In the first, “son of God” can be understood to mean Messiah, King of Israel, “man of God,” “holy one of God,” or simply a righteous man, for parallel gospels relate these terms as if synonymous. For example, the demons identified Jesus as “the holy one of God” in one account and “Son of God” in another, and the centurion identified Jesus as the “Son of God” in Matthew and Mark, but as “a righteous man” in Luke. So maybe these terms mean the same thing. In the second scenario, parallel accounts recording the same events in different words could represent biblical inaccuracy. In either case, there’s a problem. If the differing terms are synonymous and...

Click here for previous session     (Fear of Allah Alone) Allah the Most Exalted said: "It is only Satan that suggests to you the fear of his 'AuIiya . `Ai shah (May Allah be pleased with him) narrated that Allah's Messenger (May...

Click here for previous session       Pope Gregory IX instituted the Papal Inquisition in 1231, but couldn’t stomach the sin of torture. It took twenty years for a pope to shoulder the responsibility and, in the height of irony, that pontiff took the name of Pope Innocent (cough­cough) IV. In 1252 he authorized torture with the papal bull Ad extirpanda. 95 However, some of the clergy must have wanted to get their hands dirty, up close and personal. To accommodate such lofty Christian sentiments, “in 1256 Pope Alexander IV gave them the right to mutually absolve one another and grant dispensations to their colleagues. With this legal and moral issue circumvented, one inquisitor could torture and...

Click here for previous session     (Love for Allah)    Allah the Most Exalted said: "And of mankind are some who take (for worship) others besides Allah as rivals (to Allah). They love them as they love Allah." (2: 165) Allah Almighty said: "Say: If...

Click here for previous session     The concept that God provided revelation without clarifying His Own nature grates painfully against our innate understanding of God as all­merciful, providing clear guidance to all mankind. Standard Trinitarian response? That people would believe if only they understood. Standard Unitarian response? Nobody understands the Trinity—nobody. That’s why it’s a religious mystery. Talk with Trinitarian clergy long enough, bring up the above objections (and those that follow), and sooner or later the confirmed Trinitarian will admit, “It’s a mystery.” The you­just­have­to­have­faith defense is not far behind. The Unitarian typically points out, however, that moments earlier the Trinitarian proposed that people would believe, if only they understood. However, when a legitimate attempt is made to understand, by way of seeking answers to relevant questions, the claim transforms to one of a religious mystery (i.e., nobody understands!). A final defense is the suggestion that, “The...

Click here for previous session     Seeking Rain through the Lunar Phases (Constellation) Allah the Most Exalted said: "And instead (of thanking Allah) for the provision He gives you, on the contrary, you deny Him (by disbelief) (and say that we have rained...

Any attempt to equalise the male and the female genders will be a rude denial of nature. If it is generally believed that the man is much stronger than the woman; that the husband is the head of the...